Gemma
I picked up Americanah as part of my bookclub as one of the members had used it in their dissertation and was excited to share it with us. I'd heard a lot about this book through booktube, but I never thought I'd pick it up myself. I don't read a lot of literary fiction and I already own quite a few that I haven't got to yet. I listened to the audiobook, which I would highly recommend. I really liked the narrator's voice and it made the listening experience so lovely.
PLOT ???????????????
As with most literary fiction, we are going for a deep dive into Ifemelu's life and relationships. But I found the plot of Americanah to be much easier to read because there was an inciting incident that we remained firmly in the midst of throughout the book. Ifemelu decides after thirteen years in America that she misses her home, and moves back to Nigeria.
CHARACTERS ???????????????
I wasn't that interested in Ifemelu's relationship with Obinze, which was the main reason I couldn't connect to the story. I found so much of Ifemelu's life interesting that Obinze didn't really rank high enough on that list for me to care about. Ifemelu's blog posts added a more informal style of writing which was interspersed, and I really liked those breaks.
OVERALL ???????????????
All in all, this is a well crafted book that probably just isn't to my taste. I can't really say anything bad about it, I just didn't love it.
I picked up Americanah as part of my bookclub as one of the members had used it in their dissertation and was excited to share it with us. I'd heard a lot about this book through booktube, but I never thought I'd pick it up myself. I don't read a lot of literary fiction and I already own quite a few that I haven't got to yet. I listened to the audiobook, which I would highly recommend. I really liked the narrator's voice and it made the listening experience so lovely.
PLOT ???????????????
As with most literary fiction, we are going for a deep dive into Ifemelu's life and relationships. But I found the plot of Americanah to be much easier to read because there was an inciting incident that we remained firmly in the midst of throughout the book. Ifemelu decides after thirteen years in America that she misses her home, and moves back to Nigeria.
CHARACTERS ???????????????
I wasn't that interested in Ifemelu's relationship with Obinze, which was the main reason I couldn't connect to the story. I found so much of Ifemelu's life interesting that Obinze didn't really rank high enough on that list for me to care about. Ifemelu's blog posts added a more informal style of writing which was interspersed, and I really liked those breaks.
OVERALL ???????????????
All in all, this is a well crafted book that probably just isn't to my taste. I can't really say anything bad about it, I just didn't love it.